PINEHURST — North Idaho College (NIC) Workforce Training Center has teamed up with Shoshone Medical Center and had students completing their Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) course in the Silver Valley.

Bringing the resources of NIC to the Silver Valley has been done in the past, but factors like lack of resources, closure of the building and the complications of COVID-19 caused the classes to end.

The News-Press spoke with NIC Manager of Health Occupations Workforce Training and Community Education Marty Matney about bringing courses back to the Silver Valley.

“At workforce training we had a CNA class, a nursing assistant course and a few other classes. And then the campus closed, and we lost out. And we’ve always seen the need,” Matney said. “We were against some roadblocks and then COVID hit, and that derailed us some more.”

Talks began with CEO Paul Lewis at Shoshone Medical Center, eventually receiving support from the staff of local nursing homes, Mountain Valley of Cascadia in Kellogg, and the Silver Wood Village in Silverton.

“Shoshone stepped up and gave us the space we needed, their community outreach center in Pinehurst. They gave us a hospital bed, and what it really did was jumpstart this course,” Matney said.

He explained that to teach the class, NIC needs a minimum number of students for the course to run, “We want to get students in the door so we can provide them with an education to get their career started and get them out into the health care field.”

This semester's course was taught by RN Susan Sparks, preparing the students to enter the workforce as health care professionals and prepping for the state exams to be placed on the Idaho Nurse Aide registry.

“I’ve been particularly happy with our instructor, Sue Sparks,” Matney said. “I think she’s just been the right person at the right time for us.”

The current class is just now wrapping up, but Matney and Shoshone Medical Center will be working together to provide more classes as soon as the resources are available.

For information on upcoming classes and if they are offered in the Silver Valley, visit nic.edu or call the NIC Workforce Training Center at 208-769-7704.